Blog Archive

The East Van Barbell Club is back in action tomorrow night @ 7pm.

We are starting a 12 week progressive strength program that will be based around the back squat. We will be doing our initial testing and establishing our baseline numbers on Tuesday and Saturday so if you’ve been thinking of of trying us out… now is the time!!

The cost is $50/month and we’re looking for a minimum 3 month commitment.

Contact Ben or Jordy for more info or just show up and jump in to one of our training sessions!!

It’s Squat Day Thursday… are you ready!?!

Thursday Lesson Plan

Warm-up (10 minutes):

50 Banded Good Mornings

Then With an Empty Bar, Complete 2 rounds of:

10 Front Squats (Hold the bottom of the 10th front squat for 30 seconds)
10 Bent Over Barbell Rows (Slow and controlled)
30 Second Hollow Hold (hold feet and shoulder blades two inches off the ground)

50 Banded Good Mornings

Strength (12 minutes):

Front Squat (3 sets of 5) – Don’t max out. Just get your front squat good and warm for the workout

Workout Prep (10 minutes):

Find your weighted pull-up progression that you’re going to use in the workout. Strict pull-ups, or banded strict pull-ups are the progression for weighted pull-ups. If your hands are torn after Wednesday’s workout, substitute ring rows.

Workout: Quarter Gone Bad 2.0

To save your shoulders for snatches on Friday, this is Quarter Gone Bad with Front Squats instead of Thrusters

5 Rounds:

15 seconds Front Squats (135/95 lbs)
45 seconds rest
15 seconds Weighted Pull-ups (50/25 lbs)
45 seconds rest
15 seconds Burpees
45 seconds rest

Score it total reps.

I have 7am clients all through the week so I get up just after six every day.
I’m not a morning person. At all.

I am one of those people that will set my alarm as late as I can but not so late that I can’t hit the snooze button at least once! Needless to say, making myself a well balanced breakfast first thing in the morning has never been one of my specialties. On a good day, as long as the fridge is stocked full of food, I will make myself a veggie omelet with cheese to take out the door with me. Realistically that probably happens twice a week. The other 3-4 days of my work week usually start off with a big, green smoothie.

A smoothie is quick and easy alternative that’s loaded with all the nutrients your body needs to get moving!

Here is a simple guideline to: Making a Green Smoothie

Combine the following 4 categories of ingredients:

1. Green (use 1 or more): kale; spinach; bok choy; collard greens; beet greens; cucumber; broccoli; avocado
2. Liquid (use 1): water; tea; almond milk; coconut milk; coconut water (add ice if you want it chilled)
3. Fruits/Veggies (use 1 or more): strawberries; blueberries; bananas; carrots; beets; cherries; ginger root; lemon
4. Extras: protein powder; hemp/flax seeds; MCT oil; cinnamon

Wednesday Lesson Plan

Pre-Warm-up: Hip/Ankle/Hamstring Prep (10 minutes)

Warm-up: Beep Test with a mild punishment (15 minutes)

**Once you get knocked out, you must hold a plank until the last person gets knocked out.

Rest 10 minutes

Workout: Every minute on the minute for 20 minutes:

Performance Option: EMOM for 20 minutes:

5 pull-ups
10 push-ups
15 squats

Scaled Option: EMOM for 20 minutes:

3 pull-ups
6 push-ups
9 squats

**If you start out with the 5, 10, 15 version and you can’t hold it anymore, then move to the 3, 6, 9 version. If you’re doing 3, 6, 9 and you can’t hold that, then take a minute rest, and resume your reps at the top of the following minute.

Leaderboard: Beep Test

I’ve had a few people ask me recently if we have any room in barbell club and the answer is.. hell yes!!

If you’re looking to increase your strength and improve any of your CrossFit movements, then the East Van Barbell is the place for you! We train 2x/week and focus on the fundamental barbell lifts (i.e. back squat/deadlift/press/clean) a ton of accessory work, kettlebell and dumbbell exercises, strength endurance, conditioning and more.

The cost is $50/month and that is an absolute bargain!!

Jordy and I both have our CF Level 1, NCCP Olympic Weightlifting, CF Powerlifting and multiple kettlebell certifications. Our programming is based off our own knowledge and training experience and there isn’t a single workout we’ve programmed that we haven’t tested or done ourselves.

We are currently in the middle of a strength cycle that will be ending right before the Christmas holidays. If you’re interested and would like to check us out.. feel free to jump into one of our training sessions. We’re starting our next cycle in the New Year and will be doing a 3 month intensive back squat program.

Contact: [email protected]

WELCOME TO DECEMBER – Brought to you by Kermit and Eunice

Our focus for this month is THE SNATCH! Snatches are the most technical lift we do, so the more touches you can get on this movement, the more second-nature it will become (in other words, we’re tired of seeing ugly snatches and we’re going to make them all pretty this month). Tuesdays will be snatch technique, and Fridays we’ll be doing some snatch tech as well as a workout involving snatches.

On top of this, Mondays all month we’ll be programming workouts that have been done at local competitions in recent months. It’ll give you a chance to compare your scores to some of the top athletes in the province.

Finally, we have a surprise for you on Wednesdays, as well!

Let’s keep the momentum going this December. Eat cookies, drink wine, buy people nice gifts, be merry, and KEEP WORKING OUT! Your body and mind will thank you.

Monday Lesson Plan:

Warm-up: Break up as needed. Take your time. 8 minutes to work through the following:

30 Band Pull Throughs (The Andy Special) **See video for details – this dude is WAY more aggressive than Andy Sack is!
20 Tall Box Jumps (land as tall as possible)
30 Back Squats (empty bar)

Warm-up Prep 1: 10 minutes to warm-up your back squat (go a little heavier than you plan on going in the workout)

- 3 sets of 5

Warm-up Prep 2:

500 meter row at 60% effort (Focus on choosing a consistent split and holding that same pace for the entire 500 meters)

Workout: 2013 Squamish Challenge Workout

(YES, I KNOW Sheppy programmed this a month ago, but it’s a GREAT workout. If you did it on Saturday last month, then reverse the order of this one: Do the 1000 meter row first, then the back squats and compare your times!)

**Choose a weight that you can work through the 30 back squats in 3 minutes or less. Time cap is 8 minutes. Break into 2 heats if necessary.

30 Back Squats (225/135 lbs)
1000 meter row

The winning man at the Squamish Challenge was Nate Beveridge, in a time of 4:49!!!

The winning woman was Jayde Quilty, in the same time of 4:49!!

EUNICE AND A TANNED LITTLE KERMIT HOME FROM COSTA RICA!

The East Van Barbell Club will NOT be training this weekend!! Jordy and I are in a 3 day kettlebell course in North Vancouver. Don’t fret though…. we will be back on Tuesday night a little bit stronger and with a few more tricks in our bag!

We will also be starting our next strength cycle next Tuesday night (Nov. 12th) so if you’ve been thinking about joining us, this would be an excellent time! We will be setting some baseline numbers on Tuesday and Saturday so if you can make it out, we’d love to have you!!

Enjoy the long weekend!

Wow.. I can’t believe that it’s the beginning of September already! it’s been such a fantastic summer and the weather has been so awesome (up until the past couple days). I’m kind of glad that Labour day is behind us though and that summer is coming to an end because I can re-focus on my training again and set some goals for the upcoming year.

I find it really hard to train consistently during the summer months. We get such a short window of nice weather and only get so many sunny weekends to pack in as many beach days, outdoor activities, BBQ’s and good times with friends as possible. My summer training always starts off well with full intentions of keeping a chiseled beach body for the entire 2 and a half months but by the beginning of August I usually start to fall off the wagon and just try to hold on to my remaining 2 pack for as long as I can!

When September rolls around I’m usually chomping at the bit and ready to get back in the gym and find it a great time to set some personal goals for the year. Here are a few of my goals for the next few months.

1. Enter the Paleo challenge and finish in the “top 5″
2. Train for the StrongFirst kettlebell certification in November
3. Pull a 425lb. deadlift (best DL last year was 405lbs.)

So if you feel like you’re training has maybe been a bit off or you’re not feeling quite as strong or as fit as you were a couple months ago, don’t fret because you are not alone! I promise there will be plenty of people around you that will be feeling the exact same way that you do!

Give this some thought, set some realistic, attainable goals for yourself (whether that means losing 10lbs., training 20 days in a month or making a new paleo recipe once a week), enjoy the next month of programming by Chesty and Tom and go crush some PR’s!!

Ben

Wednesday’s Lesson Plan:

Warm up: 3 rounds or 7 minutes

10 t-spine bridge

30 second plank

6/6 kettlebell halos

Technique: start tech by 15 min past the hour

Set the clock for 20 mins

In as few sets as possible perform

50 strict pull ups for men

35 strict pull ups for women

If you need a band pick one that will allow to grind out at the most 7 strict pull ups in a row. Don’t get to eager here though, just because you can fight for 7 doesn’t mean you should go to failure on every set. Leave 2 to 3 reps in the “tank” during this piece. Chase performance  here not fatigue. This is your leaderboard today. Score is number of sets.

Workout: start workout by 40 past the hour

16 minute time cap

5 rounds

15 dumbbell snatch (at roughly 35% of your one rep max snatch)

30 double unders (or 1 minute of attempts)

5 barbell roll outs (share barbells for this folks)

“Homework!  We talkin bout homework?!…”  Oh right.  Wait a minute.  Let me set the tone here first with a little video from basketball’s great Allan Iverson, aka A.I.  Remember that interview where he repeatedly, incredulously talks about practice?  No?  Then check it out below, but as you watch imagine you doing the interview and replacing “practice” with “homework” and “game” with “workout.”

But Bill, what is this homework you speak of? Well I’m glad you asked! It’s that stuff you know you should be doing to take care of your body. The stretching, the breathing, the SLEEPING! And every week this month I’m going to assign you less than 10 minutes of homework to do.

We all know we should turn down the lights, shut off the tv, computer and iPad and relax a bit before going to bed but, seriously, WHO REALLY DOES THAT? What ever would I do with my time?  I’ve got the answer for you.  Your homework.  Thirty minutes before bed time shut it all down, brush your teeth, get out that book you’ve been meaning to read and DO YOUR HOMEWORK!

Your homework for the week is to complete the following four exercises.

1.  Breathing.  4 sets of 5 reps.

That’s it.  Big deep belly breaths filling into your chest at the end.  Lie on your back with every vertebrae flat on the ground (bend your knees) and take a full, deep breath filling your belly first and letting it spill over into your chest and back.  After the huge inhalation, exhale fully, pushing out all the air that you possibly can and then hold it for a 3 count.  This will be a bit of a challenge as everything in your body will tell you to inhale immediately, but resist that urge.  Repeat for 4 more reps then rest a bit before starting the next set.

2. Pec Stretches. 4 sets of 5 breaths.

Find a door way or wall, set your elbow and shoulder to the 90-90 position in/on it and turn your body away.  Hold for 5 breaths as described above.  Repeat for 4 sets each side.

3.  Lat stretch. 4 sets of 5 breaths.

Similar to above, just find a doorway or a post and complete as above for the pec stretch.  You can do this on one arm at a time if you’re working in a doorway.

4. Couch stretch.  4 sets of 5 breaths.

Hopefully you’re all familiar with this one by now.  It’s our favorite hip flexor stretch.  Prop one foot up on the couch with the knee on the ground, place your other foot out front, keep you torso upright and SQUEEZE your butt cheek.

Try these every night this weeks to get good and relaxed before bed to improve your sleep and you’ll also be doing wonders for your recovery, performance, posture and general well being.

That’s it.  It’s that easy.  Those exercises should take about 10 minutes.  Spend the rest of your 30 minute down time reading that good book you’ve been meaning to get to.

Lesson Plan for Monday, July 5th:

Warm-up: 8 min of lower body mobility

hip mobility drills
mountain climbers
band good mornings
band side steps
glute/ham bridges

Tech:

a. back squat 5 x 5

b. walking dumbbell lunges 8-10/side x 3

WOD: 12 min AMRAP

10 goblet squats (24kg, 16kg)
10 burpee box jumps (24″, 20″)
250 meter run

Ben/Bill

Holiday Schedule change:

On Monday August 5th class will be held at 10am and 5pm only.

Nutts Cup Volunteer round up:

It occurred to me that there may be some folks out there surfing the internet who would like to help out but don’t know who to contact, so I thought I’d repost…

If you like to judge people, email Shopsy at [email protected]

If you’d  like to help with the equipment set up/take down, and the general feng shui of the place, contact Andy at [email protected]

Bartending/wine raffle/selling party tickets, touch base with Audrey at [email protected]

Registration, hit up Dash at [email protected]

Decor, tap Emily at [email protected]

Friday Lesson Plan:

Warm-up: 20 burpees -> 400M run -> 20 burpees

Tech: 3 rep max thruster
5 sets of 3, work your way up to a 3 rep max.
In between sets – 20 second flexed arm hang for a total of 5 sets

WOD: Run Cindy Run

10 rounds for time:

200M run
5 pull-ups
10 push-ups
15 air squats

Saturday Lesson Plan:

Warm-up: 3 rounds

partner sprawl ball x 10/each
partner med ball sit-ups x 10/each

Tech: warm-up workout movements

WOD: Partner Grinder (one person working at a time)

100 wall balls (20,14)
100 box jumps (30, 24)
100 russian kettlebell swings (24, 16)
100 knees to elbows
4 min total plank hold
800M ball run (20, 14)

Alright, I’d like to fill you guys in as to what we have in store for you this month.

August’s primary programming focus will be on introducing a new Barbell complex every Thursday.

For those of you who don’t know, a BB Complex is one giant superset of a bunch of exercises, completed without stopping or setting the bar down. The number of movements and reps can change, but three to six exercises with three to ten repetitions each is the norm.

Barbell Complexes are a great way to stress the body and the mind, asking you to focus, and breath over your brace, for anywhere from 15sec to 2mins, while performing heavy compound moments with precision.  They tend to work a lot of musculature, over a large range of motion, and as such, use up a lot of fuel quickly.  The hard part is staying calm while the gas tank empties.

August’s secondary programming focus will be on a dozen or so fitness tests sprinkled throughout the month to flesh our new Fitness Rating (more on that to come).  Examples include max Rope Climbs in 3 minutes, 3 RM Shoulder Press, 400m BallRun etc.

A

Thursday Lesson Plan:

Warm up: 3 rounds

20 mountain climbers
15 glute bridges
10 push-ups

Tech: Practice Workout Movements

Power Clean
Reverse Lunges (front rack position)
Shoulder to Overhead

WOD: Barbell Complex – 30 minute time cap.

3 Power Cleans
3/3 Reverse Lunges
3 Shoulder to Overhead

Suggested starting weight: Men – 95lbs. Women 65lbs.

Pick your starting weight and then increase the weight every set until failure.

Take approx. 2-3 minutes rest between each set.

Men jump no more than 10-20lbs. per set, women no more than 5-10lbs. per set. Shoot for a total of 6-8 sets.

Ben/Bill

East Van Barbell Club will NOT be training this Saturday. The CrossFIt Regionals are on this weekend so we are encouraging everyone to head out to the Richmond Oval and cheer on fellow barbellers Rhea and Emily as well as the studly CrossFit Van team!!

We will be back training again Tuesday night @ 7pm.

And if you’re interested in trying out EVBBC and have at least 6 months of lifting under your belt, come over and join us!!